


A Little Help

by Brynncognito



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Wing Grooming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 10:39:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4561410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brynncognito/pseuds/Brynncognito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas requests Dean's help with his wings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Help

**Author's Note:**

> This was commissioned by adorably-confused on tumblr for caer friend. "Wing fluff" was requested. Enjoy!

The hotel room was quiet.

Sam had taken the Impala, after Dean had threatened him should he bring her back in anything less than perfect condition. Hopefully he'd be back soon with some grub, because Dean was _starving_.

Dean sighed, throwing himself down on the thin mattress farthest from the door. The place they were staying at would've made Motel 6 look like a five-star resort, but it was inconspicuous and off the beaten path. If there was one thing they needed to do right now, it was lay low.

But damn, had they chosen a miserable, dinky motel. No television or anything, and Dean didn't have the faintest clue what he felt like doing to pass the time until Sam got back. Research, maybe? It seemed that's all he ever did these days, and he swore he was on the verge of getting carpal tunnel from the hours he'd spent on the laptop.

"Dean." The gravelly voice appeared out of nowhere, jolting him out of his reverie, and Dean was grabbing for the gun next to him before his brain caught up with things and he scowled at Castiel instead of shooting him.

"Man, how many times do I have to tell you _not_ to do that?"

Now, Dean was definitely _grateful_ that Cas had pulled him out of hell and offered his continuing assistance, but the angel was a pain in his _ass_ sometimes.

Castiel looked a little uncomfortable.

"I need your help."

That was about the last thing Dean had expected, but he still leaned forward, gesturing for Cas to continue and hoping he wasn't about to be dragged into some big angel mess out of a sense of obligation.

"My... wings need to be groomed, and I cannot reach them."

Silence, where a feather from the wings Cas apparently had could have knocked Dean over. He stared.

"Your... _wings_ ," Dean echoed.

"Yes, that is what I said."

Castiel shifted from one foot to the other and finally shrugged off his trenchcoat. Surely he couldn't have been hiding wings under there _all_ this time, but there the damn things were, unfurling to a pretty impressive span. They had to have been easily 12 feet-- no, closer to 15 or 20.

"Your wings," Dean repeated, his voice maybe a little on the squeaky side. "And _how_ long have you had those things under wraps for?"

Castiel frowned.

"My wings are not normally kept wrapped. However, I have kept them hidden most of the time I have been in this vessel, as they tend to attract unwanted attention."

Of course he'd taken Dean literally, as always. One of these days he'd buy Cas a book on slang and colloquial language or something. He'd gotten better, but sometimes Dean wanted to beat his own head against the wall when Cas completely missed the point in a conversation.

In the meantime...

"So, you said you need help-- grooming. Your wings," Dean managed haltingly. Cas simply nodded, solemn.

Dean sighed.

"Alright, fine. It's not like you've got anyone else to ask, except maybe Sammy." Or Ruby. But _that_ was an image for his nightmares.

After some amount of shuffling, they decided it would be easiest for Cas to perch on the lone rickety chair in the room while Dean sat on the bed and worked his magic.

"I wish I could say this is the weirdest thing I've ever done," Dean murmured. His fingers deftly sought out the joint where Castiel's wings met his body and worked outward, smoothing out feathers with just the right gentle-but-firm touch.

Castiel was silent. Typical. Dean tried not to let it bother him too much. At least now he had something to pass the time, and that'd been the whole problem to begin with, hadn't it?

"Ouch." The exclamation sounded amusing, in Castiel's gruff voice.

"Sorry, Cas, had a feather beyond salvaging. Hopefully there won't be too many more like that, though."

Castiel again lapsed into silence, while Dean worked methodically on the task at hand, coaxing rumpled feathers back into place. He had to admit the dark-feathered wings were pretty, in a weird kinda way.

"Traditionally among some species of birds, it is pair bonds who groom and preen one another. In fact, social grooming is an important behavior among many animal species, including mammals."

Dean paused, frowning. Normally, when Cas dumped random information like this, it was for a reason or at least had some relevance to the situation at hand.

" _Pair bonds?_ " Dean replied.

Castiel said nothing.

"Cas, are you tellin' me this is some kinda freaky angel courtship ritual you've pulled me into?"

Not that he was necessarily _opposed_ to the idea, but damn it, he needed to know these things!

"Well... angels do not typically engage in courtship rituals--"

"Cas. Did you ask for my help with this because you have a... a _crush_ on me?" That was an awfully elementary school way of wording it, but Dean was a little out of his depth here.

A pregnant pause followed Dean's question.

"That colloquial term would be somewhat accurate here, yes."

Dean was strongly tempted to smack him in the back of the head.

"And you didn't tell me this _why_?"

"...You've indicated no explicit attraction to the human male form, at least in my presence, and you seem to have issues with forming any kind of serious, committed relationship outside the familial. And even your relationship with Sam is strained."

Now it was Dean's turn to go quiet. He resented the hell out of Cas right then for the way he'd spilled it all out like that, especially because he _knew_ he was right.

Dean sighed and dragged a hand down his face, while his other hand dropped down on his knee.

"Cas, you're a real piece of work. And probably no damn less than I deserve for it. Now let's get these wings taken care of and then maybe we can have a serious talk about all of this. Man to man, or... man to angel, or whatever."

The rest of the _social grooming_ process went off without a hitch, and the serious conversation the two of them had afterward didn't turn out all that long or intensive after all.

By the time Sam got back to the motel room with several bags of greasy burgers and french fries, Dean and Cas were curled up on top of the covers together, asleep.


End file.
